


Wardrobe Malfunction

by shadow282



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, Friendship, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-07-02 03:50:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15788364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadow282/pseuds/shadow282
Summary: Blake is determined to find out why Sun has been avoiding her teammates, Sun is desperately trying to keep all his limbs intact, and Yang is trying to avoid an uncomfortable conversation. All stemming from a single innocent question caused by an unintended consequence.





	1. Chapter 1

"Sooooooo" Sun said, clearly unconsciously drawing out the word through nervousness "Weiss is studying at the library, Ruby and Yang are out in the city. It's just you and me here." Blake stared at him, carefully keeping her face completely neutral. "I was wondering, since we're here alone, in your room, if maybe you wanted to watch a movie on your scroll? You know, in the bed together. Not together together but because it's such a small screen."

"Sun, are you saying you want to bed me?" Blake gasped, lifting a hand to cover her mouth as if in shock. If Sun wasn't so nervous, he probably would have noticed how ridiculously exaggerated it was.

"Um, no, that's not, what I meant was-" he began before noticing the smile tugging at the corner of her lips. His tail grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. "You're mocking me! I'm trying to be all sincere here, I can't believe you'd do that."

Blake dodged around it and burst out laughing. "Well, I'm partners with Yang. I was bound to pick up some things from her. We can watch a movie together Sun. As long as you behave yourself."

"Of course, of course. What I was thinking was we watch..."

They were about halfway through the movie, and Blake was having a great time. The movie was quite entertaining, and Sun had been behaving himself the entire time. She was just thinking that maybe his behavior deserved a reward when the top of her scroll lit up with a message from Yang. **Hey Blakey, Rubes and I are done and will be back in a few minutes. You better not be doing anything naughty with Sun!**

Blake felt her face flush as she read the message and, swearing to herself she would have a conversation later with her partner, turned to Sun to apologize. However, when she looked at him she saw something weird. He stared down at his shirt, and his face turned red. He looked scared more than he looked embarrassed.

"Um, it's getting kinda late. I should get going. I'll see you later Blake!" With that, he quickly jumped out the window and was gone. Blake stared out the window and felt her annoyance rising. She knew she'd have to deal with Sun's weird behavior at some point, but she put that aside for the moment.

Right now, it was time for a very, _very_ long talk with her partner about what was and was not an appropriate joke.

/

Blake was fed up with Sun's behavior. Movie night was the first time it had happened, but Sun was now doing it like clockwork. He never came to visit her when her team was around. He practically sprinted away if she mentioned they might be coming around later. She wasn't stupid, she had quickly realized he was avoiding the rest of her team. She had tried politely asking him about it, but he had denied it and quickly changed the topic. He clearly wasn't going to tell her on his own.

That was okay with Blake. It simply meant she would need to be more sneaky about the whole thing. Which is what had led into tonight. Weiss, Ruby, and Yang were all out in Vale somewhere getting dinner. They would be gone for most of the night. Blake invite Sun over, telling him that she wanted to hang out her room alone. Right after she sent the message, she went and locked the window. When she let Sun in, he was so excited talking he missed her locking the door behind them.

They sat talking for a while before the alarm Blake had set on her scrolled buzzed. She grabbed it from the table, looked at it for a second, and said "Looks like dinner ended early. Ruby says they'll be back here in a few minutes." Sun suddenly jumped up again, wearing that same panicked expression on his face.

"Um, I just remembered I promised to meet Neptune tonight. I'll see you later, okay Blake?" He blurted out as he raced to the window and threw it open.

Well, tried to throw it open. Fortunately, the lock held tight and didn't budge. Sun spent a few more seconds trying to open it before sprinting to the door. Again, the lock held against his efforts to pull it open. After that failed, he looked around the room, clearly panicking. He noticed something on the floor, quickly grabbed it, and pulled it over his head.

Blake was sitting there watching the whole scene unfold so she got an excellent view of Sun as he turned around. She considered the sight in front of her and couldn't decide whether it was more irritating or amusing. She was leaning towards amusing, but that was before she heard a loud tearing noise from the shirt Sun had pulled over his clothes. Specifically, Weiss' expensive new shirt. Somehow Blake doubted Weiss was going to take that particularly well. Then again, it did present her with the perfect opportunity.

Blake quickly grabbed her scroll and took a picture. "Now, if you don't want me to send this out to Weiss, why don't you tell me what's really going on? Why are you avoiding my teammates?"

His face clearly showed an internal struggle before he sighed and said "Okay, here's the thing..."


	2. Chapter 2

**A few weeks ago**

"Hey Yang, can I ask you something?" Ruby asked her timidly, which immediately set off alarm bells. Ruby was a lot of things, but she was very rarely nervous to ask her sister something.

"Of course, what is it?" Yang replied. She watched as Ruby fidgeted, clearly working up the courage to ask her question. Ruby was such a great leader, such a good fighter, that it was only at times like this that Yang remembered that Ruby really was years younger than her.

"Well, you know Blake's friend Sun. He's been hanging around with her a lot."  _He certainly has._ Yang thought to herself. Not that she minded. Trying to watch those two flirt ran from adorable to hilarious. Plus, Yang very much appreciated watching some other things while Sun was around. Not that she held any interest in him, but there was nothing wrong with enjoying a nice view.

"Well, you see, he doesn't really wear much of a shirt ever. And when I look at him like that, I feel this warm feeling coming to my stomach, and, um, other areas..." Yang felt cold as a sudden panic gripped her. Maybe that's where her thoughts went when he was around, but Ruby was  _way_ too young to be thinking that.

It's not like Ruby had never had The Conversation. Yang had been the one to do it herself. She certainly wasn't going to let her father do it again. She had some very clear memories of him stammering through that horribly awkward conversation, and she had told him she would handle it with Ruby. There was no reason to inflict those particular scars on both of them.

And she did have it with her. Sort of. Sure, maybe she skipped over a few things, but Ruby had been barely a teenager. It's not like she would need those things until much, much, much later. Yang had told herself she would finish it when Ruby was older.

Fifteen had  _not_ been what she had meant by older. Sure, she should probably talk to her about it. But this was her baby sister. She told herself it could wait for a year or so longer. Plus, there was no way she was going into this over someone that Blake was already crushing on pretty hard. She quickly ran through a list of excuses, and finally came up with one that might work.

"Oh, that? Don't worry about it, it's nothing. He's a monkey Faunus, they radiate heat like that. I'm sure we've covered that in class somewhere, right?"

"Um, I don't think so..."

"Right, of course we have! Now, who wants to go to the bakery and grab some cookies?"

She watched her sister's eyes light up, clearly forgetting entirely about the conversation. Just as Yang had known it would. It was the same shortcut to distract her sister she had been using for years. Sure, it was a tad manipulative, but Ruby was hardly complaining about it. Yang started walking while her sister started going on about what kind of cookies they should buy. Yang only half listened, only making vague positive remarks at every pause, as she planned exactly how she was going to explain to Sun what he needed to do next.

/

"Hey Yang, how's it going?" Sun said as she walked up to him. He was, like every day, hanging around outside the school waiting for classes to end.

"We need to talk. Alone, now." She said, turning and walking down the hall until she saw an empty room. She didn't need to look behind her to see if Sun was following her; she knew there was no way, with her tone, that Sun wasn't right there. She closed the door behind them and tried to start talking before Sun cut her off.

"Listen, I know what this is about. Yes, I'm interested in Blake. And I know you are too. But that doesn't mean we have to fight! She's a big girl, she can choose for herself. Let's both just agree to respect her wishes and stay friends whatever happens, okay?" Sun quickly blurted out.

Yang sighed. She was  _not_ interested in Blake. At all. Why did everyone keep assuming that?  _Sure she's beautiful and smart and brave and talented and..._ She shook her head before she could get distracted. Those were thoughts better explored another time. Right now, she had to worry about her sister.

"It's not like that, okay? And anyway, this about my sister and you."

Sun suddenly got a worried look in his eyes. He knew full well how she felt about protecting Ruby. "Um, what about her?" He was clearly going to go on but thought better of it and shut up.

"Well, Ruby has been getting certain thoughts about you. Whenever she sees you wearing that shirt." Sun looked down at his open chest and a sudden panicked look came on his face. The realization wasn't quick enough to let him dodge her when she pushed him into the wall. "She's my little sister. I  _do not_  appreciate anyone giving her those thoughts. Especially not someone who is two years older than her. So let me be clear: if you show up around her wearing that admittedly appealing outfit again, I'm going to rip off the tail. Understood?"

Sun saw the red flaring in her eyes and did the only rational move in the situation. "Yes, of course! I don't want anything to do with Ruby like that! I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

Yang nodded, satisfied, and walked out the door. Behind her, she could barely make out Sun muttering to himself, "I really, really should have packed multiple outfits..."


	3. Chapter 3

"I cannot believe you told that to Sun!" Blake yelled.

"It doesn't seem like that big a deal! He could just wear a different shirt!" Yang responded.

"He shouldn't have to change his outfit because you're afraid of a conversation with your sister. She's fifteen years old, not five. You can't keep treating her like a child."

"Oh yeah? If it's so easy, why don't you just talk to her?"

"Someone needs to, and if you're too scared to do it maybe I will!"

It was at that exact moment that Ruby walked into their room. "Hey, what's everyone yelling about? Is there a problem in here?"

"Nope, no problem Rubes. We were talking about your questions about Sun. Blake here has something she wants to tell you. Isn't that right, Blake?" Yang said.

Blake had been fully ready to have this conversation up until the point where Ruby was standing right in front of her. Seeing her here, with a curious expression on her face, was too much for her to handle. Yang had clearly failed, so Ruby would surely have a lot of questions, questions that Blake realized she really, really didn't want to have to answer. And it seemed clear Yang wasn't going to help but just stand there and laugh at her floundering attempts to educate their team leader. They stood there for several seconds, Blake repeatedly trying to bring out the words but them getting caught in her throat, before she turned and bolted out the door.

On her way out of the building she bumped straight into Weiss. When Blake saw the annoyance flick onto her face and Weiss began to open her mouth to scold her, an idea popped into her head. "Sorry Weiss. I was actually looking for you. Ruby had an academic question she needed answered, and we all thought you were the best possible person. She's in the room now, why don't you go there?"

Blake watched annoyance change to excitement, "Really? Finally, she's learned the importance of studying. I'll go help her right now." Weiss said before starting off to the room.

Blake knew she needed to hurry. She quickly ran outside and started climbing the tree near their window. Sure, she didn't want to be the one to explain it to Ruby, but there was no way she was going to miss out on watching. Especially not with Weiss doing the talking.

She didn't know exactly what would happen, but she did know it was going to end up a disaster. And she would be there to watch it, and, more importantly, record it for the future. This was going to entertain her for years, she just knew it.

/

Weiss stood there and debated which one of her teammates to kill. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't kill both of them; losing two teammates would completely throw off their fighting dynamic, and that would inevitably lead to lower combat score. An outcome which was, obviously, completely unacceptable. The problem was she couldn't decide which to murder and which to encase in ice and explain in excruciating detail why their actions were unacceptable. Yang was the obvious choice since this whole situation was entirely her fault. Blake, however, was the one who had tricked her into running headlong into it. Who was more at fault, the woman who created the problem or the one who made it  _her_ problem? It was amazing how one tiny question could present her with such a vexing dilemma.

If she had been given time to prepare for Ruby's question, she probably wouldn't need to mete out such harsh punishments. After all, when she had walked in she was in a fantastic mood, thinking that Ruby was finally taking their studies seriously. Instead of that wonderful scenario, she was greeted with Ruby's "Why does looking at Sun's muscles give me weird warm feelings inside?" It was such an unexpected question, it had taken her a few seconds to even process the meaning. Her thoughts had then immediately turned to figuring out her completely justifiable homicide.

Which, she suddenly realized, meant that she had been completely silent for almost a minute. Ruby was fidgeting nervously, waiting, and she had wasted the time she should have been thinking of the best answer deciding on her revenge.

"Well, that's a complicated question." She answered, trying to buy a little more time to think.

"How so?"

"Clearly you talked to Yang already. What did she tell you?"

"She said something about Faunus radiating heat, but then I thought about it and that didn't really make sense."  _That_ was the best Yang could come up with? Weiss looked over to glare at Yang, but her only response was a small shrug. The meaning of "Your problem now" was clear, and Yang shot up to the top of the list.

"Obviously." Weiss snapped. Ruby visibly flinched back at her tone, assuming it was directed at her, and a flash of guilt ran through her. It wasn't Ruby's fault her sister had done her such a disservice.

"What it means is, um," she stammered, trying to think of the best way to describe sexual desire in the most broad terms possible. She didn't think she was emotional equipped to give Ruby a detailed sex talk. "Look, when a woman loves a man-"

"Ew, does that mean I love Sun? Because Blake loves Sun, and I can't love the same guy as her, right?" Ruby's innocence in that regard was almost charming. She very nearly answered "Your sister disproves that notion" but it died on her lips. That was a potentially explosive problem to be dealt with another day. Preferably when she was far, far away.

"No, Ruby, it doesn't. You can have these feelings for anyone. But you're not going to act on those unless you love someone, understood?" Not advice she intended to follow or even something she expected Ruby to follow for long. But for now, she was an innocent, at least in this regard, surrounded by people several years older than her. Weiss knew she needed to set that rule sooner rather than later. She had found that Ruby's attention started declining proportionally with the length of the conversation.

Weiss waited for Ruby to nod at her before continuing. "What you're feeling is called being aroused."

"Or, if you're not repressed like Ice Queen, horny, turned on, or hot." Yang said. Weiss resumed her glare. That being Yang's "contribution" to the explanation was the least surprising thing in this whole conversation. And, while she was proud of the fact that her teammate knew the definition of repressed, Yang was completely wrong. Weiss simply hadn't found the right person yet. Mostly because the only person who she had ever wanted was standing here staring at her.

"There's nothing wrong with getting aroused, Ruby. It happens to everyone. It only becomes bad if it leads you to do something you shouldn't do, which we've already agreed isn't going to happen."

"Okay. But if I get aroused, and I can't do anything with anyone, what am I supposed to do?"

Weiss felt her face begin to flush red as Yang smirked at her behind Ruby's back. There was no way she was going to touch that one. Ruby could live with having to learn some things on her own.

"You just have to be patient and it'll go away."

The look on Ruby's face showed she still had plenty of questions, but there was only so much of this she could stand at once. "Why don't you write down anything else you want to ask, and someone can go over it later, okay?" She used the word someone very deliberately; she had absolutely no intention of continuing this discussion. This conversation had already gone well beyond her responsibilities as Ruby's partner. Ruby nodded, blurred around the room briefly, and ended up on her bed writing furiously into her notebook. Ruby continued that pace for a distressing amount of time before putting the pen down.

By the time Ruby was finished, Weiss had devised the perfect revenge. She was going to lock the rest of her team and Ruby's notebook in a closet and only let them out once they had answered everything. Since she had needed to deal with it, Weiss was determined to make her teammates suffer the same. It was only fair.

/

Blake paused her scroll on a closeup of Weiss' red face and burst out laughing. Sure, she had already watched it six times, but Ice Queen was so rarely flustered that it never stopped being amusing. She looked over at Sun, and while he had a small smile on his face, he mostly looked contemplative. He noticed her gaze and said "So, uh, I guess you love me, Blake."

"Sun?" She responded.

"Yeah?"

"Don't push your luck."

* * *

**As a quick note, I feel like I made a mistake here. This was never meant to be longer than a short story, but I honestly didn't really think about putting that at the beginning. As several people have been kind enough to point out, that's absolutely something I should have made clear. So, for full transparency's sake, the plan is to wrap this up in two more chapters of about this size. I apologize for not making that clear initially.**


	4. Chapter 4

Becoming an adult was a lot more confusing than Ruby pictured. She was prepared for challenging combat and difficult academics. She absolutely wasn't prepared for the conversations with her teammates over the last couple days.

The conversation yesterday with Weiss had been more general and left her with some important questions. The second this morning with Blake and Yang was far more enlightening. Neither one seemed like they particularly wanted to answer her questions, but Weiss' solution of throwing them all in a closet and icing it shut behind them didn't leave much of a choice. Ruby wasn't sure how she convinced Blake and Yang to go in there, but for her the promise of strawberries was enough to let Weiss lead her anywhere. A promise which had not been delivered, a grave injustice that would require balancing in the near future.

But, even though she was tricked, Ruby was glad that it forced someone to finally give her straight answers, especially when Weiss wasn't in the room. There were several questions she asked that were a little too revealing about her feelings for a certain heiress. The ones she was having for a while but never felt comfortable talking about to anyone. Her plan was simply to ignore them and hope they went away when she began to feel something similar when she looked at Sun's stomach. She went to Yang hoping that her explanation for one would enlighten her about both of them. Of course, Yang's blatant lie about it dashed that hope pretty quickly.

She figured out Yang lied to her as soon as the sugar high wore off, but she hadn't really seen anything she could do about it. She spent the next weeks trying to work up the courage to ask someone else about it, but honestly she wasn't entirely sure she would ever have gotten there. Fortunately, the two ambushes by her team gave her more information than she could possibly have needed.

Not that most of it mattered to her now. Right now, she was perfectly happy with her first two loves, fighting and Crescent Rose. Romance came far, far behind those. Still, it was much easier to deal with these new feelings now that she understood them.

Although there was apparently one method of dealing with these emotions that none of her teammates wanted to tell her. All she knew about it was that Yang briefly mentioned something about "getting herself off" before a horrified Blake stopped her from continuing. Whatever it was, it was something she would clearly need to explore for herself later. She already had a few ideas based off some of the other things they told her, but she thought it might take a while to figure it out exactly.

/

She figured it out last night. Several times. And, wow, was there a lot there she didn't know existed. A lot of things that she wanted to continue to explore later. But, now that she got that mystery to a satisfying conclusion, there was something else that was bothering her about the last few weeks.

Yang was always protective of her, sometimes to a stifling degree. But threatening Sun like that went well beyond anything she had done before. It only really made sense if there was something else behind it, something that Ruby didn't think Yang even realized. She needed to point it before it was too late.

She waited for the first time she could get Yang alone, and they ended up sitting in an empty classroom. Ruby already decided being direct was the best approach. "You completely overreacted with Sun."

"No I didn't! I was trying to protect you." Yang replied.

Ruby gave her a skeptical look. "Really? Is that all you were doing?"

A flash of guilt briefly flitted across Yang's face. "Okay, fine, maybe I was protecting both of us."

"That's not the main reason, and somewhere deep down you know that." Ruby said gently.

"Oh yeah? What's the main reason, then?" She replied.

"You did it because keeping Sun away from me helped keep him away from Blake."

"Why would I want that?"

"Because you're in love with Blake too." Yang started a denial, but Ruby held up her hand and she fell silent. She worked to make her tone as soft as possible. "You need to decide what you want, Yang, before one of them does it for you." Ruby said as she turned and walked out the door. She made her point, now all she could do was give Yang time by herself and hope she could figure out her feelings. This whole situation showed how explosive things might get it Yang couldn't come to terms with them.

/

Yang didn't like to think. Not to say that she considered herself stupid; while she was rarely the smartest woman in the room, she didn't have to make much effort to keep up with anyone. It never really bothered her. People can't be good at everything, and her skills lay in other areas. She would take her fighting ability over more intelligence any day. No, she simply preferred doing over thinking. When she was fighting or dancing or flirting she could lose herself in the moment. Her troubled past didn't matter, her uncertain future didn't matter. All that mattered was the thrill of the present. Too much thinking inevitably brought back memories of the mother who left, the mom who died, the dad who distanced himself for years. The little girl who was forced to raise a child when she should have been raised herself. The numerous mistakes she made as she fumbled around trying to provide something she never got to experience herself. It was simply easier to keep going when she didn't dredge up memories of her past.

But sometimes it was unavoidable, so she went where she always did in these situations. It was a little something she discovered once when she was looking for Blake. Right against one of the walls, painted so similar to them it was impossible to see from the distance, was a small abandoned building. It was probably an old barracks of some kind; there were beds lining the walls as well as a small kitchen and bathroom. But, most importantly, the doors were locked tight. The only way in was through a broken window near the roof. It was impossible to get in without making a significant amount of noise, which meant there was plenty of warning if company ever came. She scaled through the window, dropped to the floor, flopped down onto one of the surprisingly comfy beds, and started truly considering what Ruby said.

She tried to keep Sun away from Ruby to avoid having that awkward conversation with her. Whether or not that was okay was a separate issue, but that was definitely the reason.  _Sure, it also kept him away from Blake, but that was only a side benefit_. She thought to herself. The thought sent a little shock through her. Why would it have been a side benefit? She liked Sun, and it was good for her normally reclusive teammate to get out more often. She was happy that Sun became friends with Blake. Wasn't she? She examined those feelings a little more and found that hidden under that happiness was a sliver of something else that she never noticed before. Or, more likely, didn't want to notice before. Sitting in there, obvious now, was a little bit of jealousy. Jealousy that Sun was showing interest in Blake, and jealousy that Blake was showing interest back.

The feelings shocked her. Yang had never dated anyone before. She had been with people before, but those were all momentary things. There,  _thoroughly_ enjoyed, and never thought about again. She never wanted anything more than that. Relationships were pointless; sooner or later they would snap, and she would be left alone to pick up the pieces. Again.

She always resisted the emotional attachment part, which she realized is why she didn't see it growing. Didn't see Blake changing from her partner to something more. Something she, for the first time ever, desperately wanted. That didn't mean she ever would have willingly tried to sabotage Sun, but clearly she had unconsciously done it.

She needed to go apologize to Ruby. Even if she didn't mean to do it, she used her little sister as an excuse, and that wasn't okay. Of course, she also needed to apologize to Blake and Sun tomorrow. A conversation which will probably be even more unpleasant than explaining sex to Ruby.

It would also mean a monumental shift for her. Because tomorrow she would start showing Blake she was interested in her. It was exactly like Sun suggested; they would both be there, and Blake could pick whoever she wanted. If Blake picked Sun, she would deal with it and be a supportive friend to their relationship. Yang felt a smile light up her face and her mood brightened. Because before that potential heartbreak, there was a competition to be fought.

May the best woman win.


	5. Chapter 5

When Yang found Ruby, she was lying on her bed reading one of her comic books. She walked over and jumped up onto the bed beside her sister. "So it turns out you were right."

She gave Yang a knowing look. "Obviously. It wasn't that hard to figure out." Yang glared at her in annoyance.

"You don't have to be so smug about it."

"I don't get to give you advice much, Yang. Let me enjoy it while I can." Ruby raised a fair point. Which is why Yang counted to ten before slapping her lightly on the hand.

"You officially can't anymore." Yang said. Ruby stuck her tongue out at her before responding.

"So, when are you going to ask Blake out?"

"I'm not."

"Why?"

"Because if I asked her out, she would say yes."

Ruby gave her a dumbfounded look. "Isn't that the point?"

"Yes and no. Look, I know she likes me." That much had become obvious once Yang admitted her own feelings. The unnecessary touches, the lingering glances, the slightly suggestive comments all told the same story. If Yang was being honest with herself from the beginning it would have been obvious, but she never could have noticed Blake's feelings without admitting her own. "But she also likes Sun. If either one of us asked her on a date, there's no way she would refuse."

"Okay, so go ask her now before Sun does. It's his own fault for waiting too long." Ruby said, her tone making it clear that she thought her solution was patently obvious.

"If I do that, I'm essentially forcing her to choose me." Yang sighed. She had spent a lot of time thinking about this before coming here. She desperately wanted to go with Ruby's suggestion, but it wouldn't be fair. To Blake or to Sun. "I want to be with Blake, Ruby. But more than that, I want Blake to be as happy as possible. Maybe that's with me, and maybe that's with Sun. I shouldn't make that decision for her."

"That's incredibly stupid." Ruby said.

"Sun clearly feels the same way, or he would have asked her out already."

"Sun's an idiot,  _you're_ an idiot. If you like someone, you should ask them out!"

"Oh, really?" She said, a playful smile appearing on her face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her scroll. "Let's call Weiss then, shall we?" Figuring out Ruby had a crush on her partner was the best thing that came out of their conversation in the closet. Her own love life was an unexplored minefield, but teasing her little sister was nice, familiar ground.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled, the panic clear in her voice.

"Look, it's ringing. Wonder how quick she'll pick up?" Yang was suddenly hit in the face with a cloud of petals as her scroll disappeared from her hand. Five seconds later Ruby was back in the exact same position, rose petals were falling all over the room, and her scroll was nowhere to be found. Yang knew from experience it would take her at least an hour to find wherever Ruby stashed it.

She laughed, leaned over, and ruffled Ruby's hair with her hand. Like always, Ruby let it happen for a few seconds before shoving it off. "It would be nice if it was that simple, Rubes, but nothing ever is."

"Fine, be that way. If you won't ask her out, what are you going to do?"

/

As Sun walked into RWBY's dorm room, he was mentally preparing ways to escape. Blake said that the whole situation with Yang was resolved, but the blonde had a fiery temper. "Resolved" might go out the window the second she saw him. Which is why, when he walked through the door, he listened to make sure it didn't lock. And why he had his staff with him in case he needed to break through the window. When he saw that Blake and Yang were sitting quietly talking, he relaxed a little. But only a little.

"Sun, good. Yang has something she wanted to say to both of us."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to threaten you. I should have talked to Ruby about it instead."

"We all talked,  _very_ extensively, about everything with Ruby." Blake shuddered a little at that, and Sun was left wondering exactly how awkward that second conversation must have been for her. "She understands what she was feeling now, and it won't be a problem again."

"And I promise I'll never do anything like that again. So, friends?"

Yang nervously ran her hand over the back of her neck, and Sun was struck with the sudden impression that she wasn't being entirely truthful. The apology was sincere, but there was something more she wasn't telling them. Blake, however, didn't seem to notice, and Sun decided to let it go. It wasn't really his business; all that mattered to him was that the whole situation was resolved and that he didn't have to worry about an enraged sister yanking off his precious tail.

"It's okay. Let's just move past it." Sun said.

"Excellent!" Yang said. She came over, held out her hand, and waited for him to shake it. He took it, obviously, but the gesture completely confused him. It was so unlike her he couldn't think of a reason why she did it until he saw what she did next. She walked over, wrapped Blake in a hug, and whispered "I'm sorry." into her ear.

She also very clearly winked at him over Blake's shoulder, and he suddenly figured out what she was doing. That was what she had been keeping out of her apology. He quickly quelled the surge of annoyance that ran through him. Yang's behavior was completely unacceptable, but she seemed genuinely guilty about it, and he didn't think for a second she had done it purposely. She was, however, making it clear that this whole thing had somehow led her to realize she wanted to get serious with Blake.

Sun was fine with that. Blake very clearly liked both of them. If they both showed their interest in her, she was perfectly capable of making the decision by herself. If Blake ended up picking Yang, he would deal with it. He wouldn't be happy about it, but if that's what she wanted he wasn't going to be a bad friend by trying to stand in its way.

Until then, though, he would put his best effort into this. Sure, it could end up breaking his heart, but Blake was worth it.

/

"That's a very bad idea." Neptune said.

"Not so loud, okay?" In retrospect, talking to Neptune about this in the middle of Beacon's grounds probably wasn't the best idea, but it was a little late to worry about that now. Sun had forgotten that Neptune's inside and outside voices tended to blur together. "You said you would support dating Blake." Sun replied.

"And I would be supportive if you were dating her, but you're not. You've decided on this stupid competition instead. Do you know what I did when I wanted to date Weiss? I asked her out."

"Neptune, she completely rejected you."

"Yeah, and that sucked. But then I got over it and moved on without uselessly pining over her." Sun held his reply until a group of students walking by the tree were out of earshot.

"So what if that happens to me? She never talks about it, but I know Blake came out of a very bad relationship right before Beacon." Blake let that slip one night on accident. He was sketchy on the details, but he could guess enough of them that he knew asking her about it wasn't a good idea. "I know she likes me, but what if she says she's not ready for something more?"

"Then you give her time to get ready and try again. She's turning you down on a date, not stabbing you in the heart." Neptune said, his annoyed tone making clear his disapproval of Sun's plans.

"It'll feel the same to me. Plus it'll be awkward for a while, and then Yang will have more opportunity to get close to her, and then she'll probably choose her over me when she is ready."

Neptune sighed. "This is going to blow up in one of your faces. The deeper you get in this, the harder it'll be when she finally chooses one of you."

"Sure, but if I don't ask her out then things won't be uncomfortable if she chooses Yang. If she turns me down it'll be weird, but if I don't ask everything will stay the same. Being good friends with her isn't the worst thing in the world."

"Fine, but when this inevitably goes bad I'm going to say I told you so."

"You always do."

"Yeah, what else are friends for?"

* * *

**So my plan for the story ended up being much longer than anticipated. Rather than cram everything into a final chapter, I decided to keep it going. Not sure for exactly how long, but I'll let you know when I've got it nailed down.**

**Also I changed the rating to teen, which is probably where a story about explaining sex should have been this whole time. It's not changing anything about how the story is written, so if you've gotten this far the rest of the story will be fine.**


	6. Chapter 6

Blake was lying on her bed reading when Yang walked into their room. "Hey Blake, the Vale carnival starts today. Ruby says we all need to go to it. Something about a chance to do some team bonding."

"Isn't the carnival a kid's thing?" She asked. Yang laughed as she hopped up onto the bed beside her.

"Sure, but if you haven't noticed my dear sister is still kinda a kid. But I promise there's some fun things for us adults to do too." Blake doubted it. Large, crowded, loud spaces were the exact opposite of fun.

"I don't know..."

"Please?" Yang asked, looking her straight in the eyes. Yang couldn't do puppy dog eyes nearly as good as her sister's, but it was still hard for Blake to say no staring into those beautiful lilac pools.

"Fine."

"Yes! You're the best, Blakey!" Yang reached over and wrapped her in a hug. Blake tried to ignore the pleasant warmth radiating off her partner as she gently pushed her off.

"I can't go if you suffocate me, Yang." Blake said. Yang quickly leaned away from her and blushed, and Blake found out that "cute" was the only word that could aptly describe her partner when embarrassed.

"Sorry. Let's go, Rubes and Weiss are waiting for us downstairs." Blake followed her partner out the door and tried to look on the bright side. Sure, she still didn't particularly want to go, but she also had never really had a bad time spending the day with her team. With them, this carnival could turn out to be a lot of fun.

/

Her first impressions of the carnival weren't great. It had certainly looked impressive as they walked towards it. Set up right outside the city, they could see some of the rides towering over the usually empty field. A large Ferris wheel loomed over the whole area accompanied by a winding rollercoaster decorated with images of Grimm. She had no doubt that they both provided beautiful views of the city on the right and the forest on the left. But that was all before she got close enough for the rest of her senses to kick in.

The smell hit her first. It was a potent mix that could only come from a large group of people sweating in the heat. The only solace for her was that underneath that smell, barely detectable, was the smell of delicious food. If she focused on the smell of popcorn, hot dogs, and some kind of sugary treat, she could almost block out the bad. Not fully, but she hoped she would get used to it.

The sound hit next, and she doubted she would be able to block it out nearly as well. The chattering of hundreds of people talking combined with rides blaring obnoxiously happy music hit her like a wave and stopped her in her tracks. She might have turned around and left them if Yang hadn't walked back to her and grabbed her hand. The comforting gesture provided a solid sensation to anchor herself.

"If it's too much for you to handle, we can turn around and go back to Beacon now. Ruby will understand." Yang said. Blake bit back the automatic agreement that almost came out. Part of her really wanted to say yes, but a bigger part didn't want to ruin the team activity. Or, she had to admit, let go of Yang's hand.

"No, I'll be okay. Just give me a minute to get used to everything." She took a few deep breaths and focused on Yang. She let the smell of smoke that surrounded her, the warmth she radiated like a heater, and the pleasant sensation of holding her hand fill up her senses and drown out everything else. She smiled at her partner. "Much better. Let's go." They started forward again to find Ruby and Weiss were waiting for them by the entrance.

"You guys ready?" Ruby asked. Blake nodded, and they entered the carnival.

"Where are we going first?" Weiss asked. Blake looked over at her to see that, even though she was trying her best to hide it, there was a slight look of disgust on her face. Apparently enhanced senses weren't necessary to find the place unpleasant.

"Well, why don't we go to the face painting booth? The line takes forever unless you go early." Ruby said.

"Sure, if that's what you want." Weiss said as she smiled at her partner. If Ruby wasn't so excited, she probably would have noticed the smile was completely fake. Blake wasn't particularly excited about it either but seeing Weiss's discomfort at the idea was definitely worth it.

They were walking to it when she heard a shout of "Funnel cake!" followed by a blur of petals shooting past her. Ruby accidentally hit her side on the way past, and the unexpected blow was hard enough to knock her off balance. She would have fallen to the ground if Yang hadn't been waiting to catch her. And, when cushioning her fall, put her hand in the wrong place. Or, as the thrill surging through her suggested, maybe very much the right place. She quickly moved her hand and pushed Blake back to her feet.

"You okay?" Blake nodded, still too flushed from what had happened to speak. If Yang noticed her reaction, she gave absolutely no sign of it. They followed the petal trail to see Ruby sitting at a table with a large plate of some kind of dough with powdered sugar over it.

"I assume that's the funnel cake?" Blake asked.

"Yep! It's one of the most delicious things in the world. Go on, try it!" Blake sat down, grabbed a piece, and popped it into her mouth. While Ruby's love of sugar may have clouded her judgement, Blake had to admit it was quite good. "You too, Weiss." Blake turned to see Weiss standing behind her with a dubious expression.

"It really is pretty good." Blake said.

Weiss opened her mouth to respond before her eyes widened in shock. "Ruby, seriously?" Weiss said. Blake turned around to see the whole thing was gone except for two small pieces. Yang laughed beside her and ate one of the pieces.

"Don't worry, they'll be plenty more of them over the day." She said.

Weiss hesitantly ate the last piece, and her face twisted in disgust for a second before that fake smile returned. "It's good."

Ruby smiled back at Weiss, hers full of joy, and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go! You guys are taking forever!" She said, apparently forgetting that she caused the detour. She ran ahead with Weiss while Blake and Yang walked at a leisurely pace behind them. By the time they reached the room, Ruby and Weiss had already disappeared inside. They waited outside until Ruby came bouncing out the door. There was a pretty good cartoon Beowolf painted below her eye.

"Nice choice Rubes. I'm next." Yang said before entering the room. It didn't take long for Weiss to walk out. There was a small dog on each of her cheeks.

"Aww, Weiss, you look so cute!" Ruby said. Blake moved past Weiss as she started blushing and entered the room. She walked in to see there were two chairs on opposite sides. Yang was in one of them, but Blake couldn't see what she was getting through her long hair. She sat down at the other one and looked at the various designs on display while the artist patiently waited for her. She scanned over most of them before she finally found one she wanted, a stylized fire with trails of smoke rising above it. She pointed it out, and the artist went to work. He was much faster than she would have thought, and it only took a few minutes for her to finish and walk out the door. Yang was waiting outside for her, and when she saw what was on her partner's face she couldn't help but laugh. It was an adorable green dragon with "Rarr!" coming out of its mouth.

Yang smiled back at her. "Looking good, Blakey." She took her hand again, and that same feeling of pleasant warmth went through her. "Ruby decided she wanted to go on the rides next. They went ahead to get in line for the rollercoaster." Blake followed Yang's lead, and by the time they reached the rollercoaster Ruby and Weiss were already halfway through the line. Blake was surprised considering how crowded the carnival was until she saw how quickly the rollercoaster moved. It took longer to load up with people than it did to ride it, and Blake suddenly grew a little nervous. She had never actually been on any kind of ride, especially not something like this.

"It not nearly as scary as it looks." Yang said, apparently noticing her apprehension. "I promise you'll enjoy it." Blake nodded, took a few deep breaths to calm herself, and waited for their turn. She managed to keep the nervousness away up until they had actually been locked in her car, at which point it came back in full force. But, before she could say anything, the car shot forward and started moving upwards on the track. She tried her best to steel herself for what she knew was coming but hadn't really gotten it before they reached the top of the track. She had about half a second before they plunged down the other side. She felt like she left her stomach at the top of the track, but as they picked up speed and went up and down the smaller hills she couldn't keep the smile off her face. Despite the slight nausea, the ride was a lot of fun.

It was over quickly, and as they shuffled out of the car Blake felt her stomach return. "How was it, newbies?" Yang asked.

"It was a lot of fun." Blake replied.

"Yeah, it was." Weiss said. Blake looked over to see the first genuine smile of the day on her face.

"Cool. We have to make one little stop, and then we can go again." Ruby said. Her "one little stop" ended up being another funnel cake that she inhaled mostly on her own, and they returned to the line. They ended up going on the rollercoaster five more times, but Blake never got tired of the thrill of the whole ride.

They had another stop for more funnel cake before they went to some of the other rides. Bumper cars were next, and they were also more fun than she expected on first sight. Once they got in there, Blake couldn't deny there was a childish excitement in smashing into the side of one of her teammate's cars. After was a "fun house" that was clearly meant for children. Nothing in it was particularly interesting for her, but Ruby saved the experience. She bounced through the whole thing with such infectious enthusiasm that Blake was swept along with it. The final ride in the carnival was the Ferris wheel. That line took a while, and when they did get to the front she saw that the cars were only big enough for two people. Ruby and Weiss went in the first one, and Yang and Blake went in the second.

"So, are you having fun?" Yang asked. Blake thought about it and realized the carnival was turning out to be a lot more fun than she would have thought possible. She also realized it had been hours since she even noticed the overpowering smells and sounds that she thought would bother her the entire time.

"Yeah, you were right. There were plenty of fun things to do."

"Good. And we haven't even gotten to the best part. Just wait until you see the view from the top." Yang's face lit up from an idea. "Why don't you close your eyes on the way up? That way you won't spoil the view." Blake thought that was a bit unnecessary, but she decided to indulge her partner. After all, Yang hadn't been wrong yet. She closed her eyes, and they sat in companionable silence until Yang tapped her on the shoulder. She opened her eyes and her heart skipped a beat. The view of the city from up here was gorgeous, but that wasn't what she cared about. All she cared about was Yang. With the setting sun bathing her in a golden light and a warm smile on her face, she looked like an angel. Yang was always beautiful but framed like this she was breathtaking.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Blake took a few seconds to breath before she could even respond. Even then, a brief "Yes." was all she managed to get out. Yang turned away to look at the city again, and Blake tried to calm down her racing heart to little avail. She was a little worried her partner might turn around and notice something, but Yang kept looking at the city. They started to go down again, but she still didn't turn around until they reached the bottom. Blake used the extra time to school her face into something neutral. By the time they were getting up, Blake looked like her usual self. Or, at least, she desperately hoped she did.

When they walked out, Ruby and Weiss were waiting at the exit. Weiss looked as stunned as Blake felt, and she suspected Weiss had gotten a similar view of her partner. Thankfully for her, Ruby's obliviousness was in full effect so she didn't notice anything was different.

"Anything else you want to do, Rubes?" Yang asked.

"Nope, I'm good. I think today's been another successful mission for Team RWBY."

"Yeah, it was great." Yang said. Weiss and Blake, still recovering, could only manage a nod. "Let's go home."


	7. Chapter 7

"Come on, I need you to do this for me. Sage and Scarlet already bailed." Sun pleaded.

"Absolutely not." Neptune replied. "You can go with her by yourself. You don't need me there."

"Of course I do! I already told her we were going as a group. If I'm the only one who shows up, it'll seem weird."

"Too bad. I already have plans for tomorrow."

"No, you don't. You're just terrified of the water." Sun said. He tried, but he knew he couldn't keep all his annoyance out of his voice.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Neptune lied. Sun sighed. He didn't understand his friend's terror of the water, but he could acknowledge that there was probably a good reason behind it. What was more annoying and less understandable was his transparent lies about his fears.

"Good, then there's no reason not to go. Come on, I'll owe you one."

Neptune took a few minutes to consider that, but he finally nodded. "Fine, but you owe me big. Like, whatever-I-want big."

Sun broke out in a smile. He might regret it later when Neptune decided what he wanted, but for now he was good. "Excellent. Now let's go, we need to get a few things."

/

As Blake walked to meet Sun, she could barely contain her excitement for the day. She loved going to the beach, but since arriving in Vale she hadn't gotten a chance. Her team adamantly refused to go. Yang said she couldn't deal with getting sand in her hair, and Weiss wouldn't stop going on about how beaches were always incredibly dirty. She hadn't thought it was worth the effort to push either of them, but she also wasn't going to go by herself. She resigned herself to never getting to go until Sun brought up the idea yesterday. She leapt at the chance, and her uncharacteristic enthusiasm had brought a smile to his face that was so adorable she could still see it if she closed her eyes.

As she walked closer, she enjoyed the simple sensations. Every step she took made the smell of the beach grow stronger, and she breathed it in deep. Many people found the smell of the sea distasteful, but she loved it. It always reminded her of those pleasant childhood days when she would spend hours hanging out on the Menagerie beach, playing in the sand and running through the water. It was also close enough to the docks that the smell of fish mixed in with the water, and she could already almost taste the deliciously fresh fish she would insist they eat for lunch.

Once she got within sight of the entrance, she saw Sun and Neptune waiting for her. The sight of Neptune sent a tiny bit of disappointment through her. It wasn't that she disliked Neptune, and Sun had said he already had plans to go to the beach with people before asking her. But she had been sure he was lying when he said it, and a little part of her was disappointed that she wouldn't get to spend the whole day alone with Sun. Blake knew she should probably examine those feelings further, but she put them aside for right now. Today all she would focus on was having a fun day at the beach with friends.

"Hey Blake. Sage and Scarlet bounced on us, but I think we'll have a great day with just the three of us." Sun said with a smile. Neptune remained quiet, though, and Blake looked over to see nervousness written all over his face. He kept glancing at the beach and shuddering every time they could hear a wave crashing against the sand.

"Everything okay, Neptune?" She asked. Neptune jumped a little before turning back to her and making a poor attempt to appear nonchalant.

"Nope, nothing's wrong. Everything's good. You guys go in. I'll be right behind you." He said. Sun shrugged and motioned her forward, and they both entered the beach.

"What's wrong with Neptune?" She asked as they walked towards the changing room.

"He's afraid of water." Sun leaned over to whisper in her ear, and the feeling of his warm breath on her neck caused a shiver of excitement to run down her spine.

"Really? Why?" She asked back. She knew a little bit of her excitement came through in her voice, and she hoped Sun didn't notice it. Sun shrugged.

"No idea. He always refuses to talk about it. Still, as long as we don't sit too close to the water, he'll be fine. Just give him a few minutes to work up to it." He said as they approached the changing rooms. "I'll meet you outside here, okay?" Blake nodded, and they walked into the opposite rooms. Sun brushed past her as he walked to the open door, and another slight thrill ran through her. She was glad Sun's back was turned so that he couldn't see the blush that came with it, and she quickly moved away into the changing room. She went into one of the stalls and pulled her swimsuit out of her bag. Well, not really her swimsuit. Blake's only swimsuit was sitting back on her bed in the dorm. As soon as she had gotten back, she had dug it out of the back of her closet, but once it was sitting there she realized she really didn't want to wear it. She would be lying if she said that today she didn't want to show off a little for Sun, and hers was simply more functional than stylish. She had debated raiding her teammates' closets, but she knew Weiss and Ruby wouldn't have anything better. Yang definitely would, even if she disliked the beach, but taking Yang's clothes for this would have felt too weird.

Fortunately, Velvet had come to her rescue. Or, more accurately, Velvet and her fashionista team leader. Between Coco's numerous clothes and the only-slightly-less-numerous clothes that Coco insisted on buying for Velvet, there were more than a dozen options for her to choose. It had taken much longer than she wanted because Coco insisted she tried them all, but she was incredibly happy with the results. She quickly changed and walked out to look at herself in the mirror. A short black bottom that was just tight enough in all the right places and a top tied low enough to, as Coco put it, "drive Sun crazy". Coco had definitely been overstating it, but Blake knew she looked great.

She walked out, excited to see Sun's reaction, but when she saw him standing outside, she stopped cold. The way her heart sped up and her breath caught when she saw him didn't make a lot of sense, logically. After all, Sun being shirtless wasn't too much of a difference from the way his abs were always visible anyway. She got  _plenty_ of enjoyment out of staring at that, but for some reason she couldn't quite place something about being able to see all of him made it infinitely better.

"Ready to go? Neptune set up a place for us already." Sun asked. Blake nodded, and they set off. As she walked, she realized with a twinge of disappointment that she had been too distracted to notice Sun's reaction to her. Which then got her wondering if Sun noticed her reaction to  _him_ , and she suddenly started blushing again. Fortunately, Sun seemed too focused on Neptune to look at her.

"So what's the plan?" She asked.

"I was thinking we enjoy the beach for a while, go swimming, then grab lunch and see how we feel after."

"Works for me." She replied. They walked until they reached Neptune, who had already set up a few towels for them to use on the beach. Neptune still looked uncomfortable, but the nervousness seemed to have faded into resignation. Blake picked the closest towel and sunk down into it. She stretched out on the soft sand as the warmth of the sun enveloped her.

"Hey Blake?" Sun asked. Blake opened her eyes to see him standing above her. She had the most fascinating view from this angle, and she couldn't keep a slight smile off her face.

"Yes?"

"Do me?" He asked. As soon as she heard that, her brain short circuited as a series of incredibly pleasant images flooded through her mind. She wasn't sure how long it was before she noticed Sun waving his hand in front of her face. "Hello? You there?"

"Uh, yeah, what?" She replied breathlessly.

"A little help?" He asked as he shook a bottle of sunscreen in his other hand. Blake felt herself turning bright red when she realized what he had meant.

"Right, sure, come here." He handed over the bottle and laid down next to her, and she put some on her hand and started putting it on. She tried to turn her brain off while doing it and successfully managed to enjoy the pleasant sensation of his hard muscles beneath her hands without devolving into fantasies of anything else. Once she finished, she handed him back the bottle and rolled over, and Sun came over and started on her back. The slight uncomfortable cold of the lotion faded into the most incredible sensation of Sun running his hands over her back. The minute it must have taken stretched on for what felt like forever, and it was only once he finished that Blake realized she had been purring the entire time. She quickly cut it off, but there's no way Sun hadn't heard her. Thankfully, he decided not to mention it, and Blake could breathe a quiet sigh of relief as he moved away and closed his eyes on his towel. She joined him and closed her eyes to simply listen to the calming sound of waves washing onto the beach.

They laid there for almost two hours before they decided it was time to go swimming. Blake and Sun went off towards the water, leaving Neptune mumbling some obvious excuse behind them. The water was a little cold at first, but it only took a few minutes for it to fade into a comfortable warmth. Sun had brought a beach ball with his things, and they started tossing it between them. There was a simple fun in diving through the water trying to keep it in the air, and she lost track of time until a rumbling in her stomach informed her that it was time to eat.

As they got out and walked back to their stuff, Blake noticed that the water glistening on Sun as it slowly dripped off provided a view she could easily get lost in. She quickly averted her eyes and focused on the sand. The view might have been fantastic, but the last thing she needed was to embarrass herself again. They collected Neptune, dried off, and walked over to get a delicious lunch of fresh fish. Blake ate a little too much, and by the time they got back all she wanted to do was crack open a book and bask in the warmth of the day.

"What now?" Sun asked as she sat down again.

"I'm planning on reading for a while. You and Neptune can do something on your own." She didn't really think that would be an issue for them, which is why his next words were so shocking.

"Why don't we read it together?" Sun asked. There was a slight hesitation in his voice that made Blake think he was expecting her to say no. It was really sweet, and she felt her heart melting a little.

"We can if you want, but I didn't think you were interested in reading." Sun shrugged at her and gave her a sly smile.

"I'm not, but I'm sure it'll be fun if you're reading it. Your voice is incredible, Blake. There's nothing you could say that wouldn't be interesting." The comment was delivered very casually, but Blake still couldn't stop her blush from the compliment. She reached over to her bag and pulled out her latest book. She wasn't that far into it so she decided to restart it for Sun's sake. She began reading, and Sun sat there listening intently to her. Neptune's attention clearly started to drift off after the first few pages, and she expected Sun to join him. But, chapter after chapter, he remained focused on her. She kept reading until the light from the sun started to dim. Looking up, she saw storm clouds on the horizon.

"We should probably go before it starts to pour." Blake said. They quickly packed up their things and started back towards the city. As they walked, Blake looked over at her friends and smiled. "I glad you guys enjoy the beach too. No one on my team really wants to come with me."

Sun returned a smile to match her own. "Yep, I had a great time. Want to come back here soon? We can keep reading the book too." Neptune didn't say anything until Sun nudged him, at which point he gave an affirmative grunt. That wasn't surprising given his fear of the water, and honestly Blake wouldn't mind if next time Sun didn't drag him along.

"Sure. I'd love that."


	8. Chapter 8

Weiss took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her nervousness before she spoke. "Ruby, hi. I was wondering if you wanted to, you know, um, go get dinner tonight?" The words hung in the air for a few seconds before Weiss sighed.

"No, no, no. That's too vague. She won't even know you're asking her out." She said to herself. She took a few more deep breaths. "Hello Ruby. I was hoping you would join me for an evening out. I would love the pleasure of your company." She knew as soon as she finished speaking that one was even worse.

"Way, way too formal. Formal goes right over Ruby's head. Just be casual, Weiss. A nice, casual invite." She took another deep breath, turned to the bathroom mirror, and stared straight into her reflection's eyes. "Hey Ruby. Do you want to go get dinner tonight? Just the two of us?" She asked. She gave it a little bit, but no criticism of it came to mind. That would be perfect. Of course, whether she could work up the nerve to ask Ruby was another question.

"Still a little too vague. You're gonna have to spell out that it's a date if you want her to realize it." Blake's voice came from behind her. Weiss spun around, face already flushing bright red.

"Blake! You're back. Why are you back so soon? You were supposed to be gone for hours. You should have told me you were coming so I could be ready. Because this isn't what it looks like!"

Blake laughed at her. "So you aren't planning on asking out Ruby?"

"No, of course not!" She insisted. For a few seconds, at least, until Weiss realized how ridiculous she sounded. She decided to drop the pretense. Maybe Blake would have some ideas to help. "Okay, so I was. I'm just not sure how to do it. You know how oblivious she is sometimes. How am I supposed to make it clear, and not come on too strong,  _and_ not make it awkward? You need to help me!" She blurted out. She stared at Blake, mentally preparing to be laughed at again, but Blake seemed to be considering her words carefully.

"Ask her if she wants to go on a date to get dinner with you. It's simple and clear. And don't be wound up too tight when you do it. She'll be less likely to understand it if you're struggling through the whole thing." Blake finally said.

"But what am I going to do if I'm that clear and she turns me down? I don't even know if she likes girls!"

Blake walked over and looked her in the eyes. "Trust me, Weiss, she'll say yes if you ask her." The certainty in her voice filled Weiss with a confidence she had been lacking, and she instantly felt better about asking Ruby.

"Okay, I will. Thanks." Weiss said. Blake started to leave, but since they were already talking about these things Weiss decided she should ask something that had been bothering her. "What about you? What are you going to do about your situation?"

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about." Blake lied. It was Weiss' turn to laugh.

"So you haven't noticed that Sun and Yang are tripping over themselves trying to date you?"

"Well they're not doing a very good job then. Neither one has asked me out."

"Sure, but they clearly want to ask you. Knowing them, I'm sure they both have two equally stupid reasons why they won't, but that doesn't mean you can't. Blake, we've reached the point where you can barely keep it in your pants half the time one of them is around. You can't keep going on like this."

"That's a complete over exaggeration!" Blake said. Weiss' only response was to look her in the eyes and wait. Eventually the awkwardness became too much, and Blake gave in with a small shrug. "Maybe you have a point. I just can't choose, you know? Yang is funny and sweet and trustworthy, but she isn't a Faunus. She'll try her best, but there's a part of my life she'll never truly understand. Sun can, and he's a great guy, but if I pick him would it only be because he's a Faunus too? That doesn't seem fair to any of us. What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, but you have to do something."

"Why? We're all friends, and nothing is awkward, nobody's feelings are hurt. What's wrong with that?"

Weiss sighed. Blake could be amazingly dense sometimes. "Because it won't last. Something is going to give eventually, and the longer you let this go on the worse the inevitable collapse."

Blake stood still for a few minutes, clearly considering Weiss' words, before she spoke again. "You're right. I'll take some time to figure it out soon. After you ask out Ruby."

"That's not fair! Don't pin your romantic problems onto me." Blake's face lit up in a sudden wicked smile, and Weiss began to get a very bad feeling in her stomach.

"No, what's not fair is that I texted Ruby and told her you needed to speak to her right now. She'll be here any minute." Panic and annoyance began rising inside Weiss, and she took a few threatening steps towards Blake. But before she could get close enough to wring her little neck, Blake laughed and disappeared out the door.

Weiss started running to go after her but by the time she reached the front door, Ruby was walking through it. "Hey Weiss, what's up?" She asked. "Blake said you needed to ask me something important."

This wasn't how Weiss had wanted to do it, but she decided to grit her teeth and try anyway. "Yes, well, a friend of my father's opened a restaurant in Vale recently. He said that I could come around for a free meal whenever I wanted. So I was wondering if you wanted to go with me tomorrow? We'd have to wear fancy dresses, but it could be fun, right?" Weiss asked hesitantly. But then Ruby's face lit up in a bright smile, and Weiss felt her heart soar.

"That sounds great! You make the reservation, I'll go tell Blake and Yang. Blake will probably want to bring Sun so let's make it for five people, okay?"

Weiss panicked at that a little but made an effort to suppress it. She had forgotten to mention the date part, but all she had to do was clarify it now. "Ruby, that's not w-"

"Okay, cool. I'll see you later!" Ruby said before a blur of petals shot out the door. Weiss walked over to the wall and began banging her head against it. She couldn't believe how badly she had screwed that up! Still, Weiss was a little comforted that at least Ruby hadn't said no. She could always try again later, and next time she'd practice enough to get it so perfect that even Ruby couldn't fail to notice it.

/

Yang was walking through Beacon towards her dorm when Ruby ran up, grabbed her, and pulled her into the nearest empty room. She was flushed red and out of breath, and Yang instantly got worried for her little sister.

"What's wrong, Ruby?" Yang asked.

"Well, Weiss asked me out on a date." Yang's worry disappeared as she broke into a huge smile.

"That's great, Rubes! What are you guys doing?" Instead of answering, Ruby began fidgeting back and forth nervously, and a little bit of that worry began to reappear.

"Uh, about that..." Yang could have stepped in, but she decided to let Ruby flounder until she got to the point. "Well, she asked me out to dinner, and then I panicked and didn't know what to do so I pretended I thought she was inviting everyone and ran off to tell you." Yang stared at her little sister dumbfounded.

"Seriously?" She asked. Ruby nodded glumly. "I thought you wanted this?"

"I do! But I never thought she did, so when she asked, I said the first thing that came to mind."

"Okay, but that's easy enough to fix. Go back, explain what happened, and you guys can go on your date." Yang thought it was a reasonable suggestion, but Ruby's face lit up in panic.

"No way. Absolutely no way. What if I'm wrong, and she really did mean everyone? That would be a disaster!"

There was no way it wasn't meant to be a date, but Yang decided to indulge her. "Are you wrong?"

"No, but what if I am? There's no way I can do it. You need to come with us. I'll talk with her after the dinner." Yang sighed. She wished Ruby would be able to get over this on her own, but she knew her too well to try and push her. Plus, Weiss asking her out once was a very positive sign. She would do it again and knowing her do it in a way Ruby couldn't even pretend not to understand.

"Fine. An evening out for all of us could be fun."


End file.
